Germany’s dangerous political marriage

The third grand coalition in Merkel’s long chancellorship is a marriage of convenience: loveless, largely unloved, and devoid of any overarching vision, writes Helmut K Anheier.

More than five months after Germany’s federal election last September, a new grand coalition government — comprising Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union, the CDU’s Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) — has finally been formed. However, there is little reason to celebrate.